Section IV: Employment

201 Employee Classifications

Hourly Staff (non-exempt)

Staff who are subject to the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act and are paid hourly wages including time and one-half (overtime) for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week. Full-time hourly staff normally work a regular schedule of 35 to 40 hours per week, as determined by the nature of the work and department head.

Salaried Staff (exempt)

Staff who do not receive overtime pay and are expected to work the hours necessary to fulfill their duties, normally a minimum of 40 hours per week.

Part-time

Staff members who normally work less than 35 hours per week.

Regular or Temporary

A regular staff member is one who works in a position that is expected to continue indefinitely. Nevertheless, regular positions are “at will” with no guarantee of continued employment.

Temporary staff members are “at will” employees who work on a temporary basis, normally on fixed, short-term assignments of less than six months. Temporary employees may be hired by the College or “leased” from a temporary help agency. The use of temporary employees should be approved by the appropriate Senior Staff member and the Human Resource Department.

202 Hiring Process

It is the policy of Centre College to establish and adhere to consistent and standard employment procedures. The Staff Search Guide located under Best Practice for Conducting Staff Search was established to share best practices in conducting a successful search. Hiring managers responsible for recruitment, interviewing, selection, and hiring of employees should be knowledgeable in the process. Recruitment for all employees should reflect a commitment to equal employment opportunity. Centre is committed to a diverse faculty, staff, and student body, and an inclusive campus community.

Open staff positions are posted to the Human Resources website. Ads may run concurrently with internal postings. Some jobs, due to the nature of their short duration, may not be posted, or may be posted internally only.

All resumes and applications received by the closing date will be reviewed and the qualifications of the applicants considered.

For Staff hiring process, please go to CentreNet, click on the Human Resources Forms and Docs page and go to the Recruitment Toolkit section.

203 Employment of Minors

With the exception of Centre students on the work study program, it is the intention of the College to hire only individuals eighteen years of age or older.

204 Introductory Period

All new employees are considered on probation for the first three months of employment. During this period, the new employee’s performance will be observed to determine if a continuation of employment seems justified. The successful completion of the introductory period does not erode the College’s at will employment rights and the employee or the College may terminate the employment at any time for any reason.

205 Other Employment

Staff members are expected to satisfactorily fulfill all the requirements of their position. Additional employment, outside of the College, is discouraged. Outside employment that has the potential to interfere with the requirements of the employee’s job should be discussed with the employee’s supervisor prior to accepting another job.

206 Promotions and Transfers

The College encourages promotions from within whenever practical. Where appropriate, a regular staff member may be promoted or transferred to another position in the same department without the position being posted. Because Centre is a relatively small college, with many departments only having one director, promotional opportunities to that level will not be available unless that position is vacated.

Directors should make any promotion request directly to their Senior Staff representative. Any Senior Staff representative interested in having a promotion considered should discuss the matter with Human Resources. Employee eligibility for promotion will be determined by the requirements of the current position held in relation to the open position. New or additional duties may be added to a job description, without it being considered a promotion due to changes in technology, change in processes, or a variety of reasons that may occur over a given period of time. All of these are evaluated by Human Resources with the Senior Staff representative and the director of the appropriate area. In addition, to be considered, employees should have held their current position for at least six (6) months, have a satisfactory performance record and have no disciplinary actions during the same period.

Generally, in looking at promotions a person may move from Assistant, to Associate to Director. In consideration of titles, the College may use some titles (Associate/Assistant Dean) in only certain departmental areas as these titles are a common practice amongst comparison higher education colleges and/or universities.

Transfer requests that would not involve a meaningful salary increase will be considered, but are not encouraged. Persons interested in a promotion or transfer should make their interests known to the Human Resource Department.

207 Student Summer Employment Program

Each summer the College hires a number of summer workers if the College work load and economic conditions permit. Applicants must be college bound high school graduates at least 18 years of age. Priority in hiring is given to Centre students, the children of College employees, and others, in that order. Applications are normally received during the month of March of each year and details of the program are posted at that time. The Human Resources Department administers the Student Summer Employment Program and all job offers will be extended through that office.

208 Employee Training

As part of our commitment to our values, Centre strives to create an environment dedicated to the shared purpose of providing a transformative liberal arts education. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that all faculty and staff receive essential training to support professional development, student and employee safety, compliance, and institutional effectiveness.

This policy applies to all employees, that is, all Faculty and Staff, including full-time, part-time, and adjunct faculty. The Office of Human Resources will administer this Policy in cooperation with the Director of Equal Opportunity and Title IX Compliance.

All employees must complete the following required training elements within the specified time frames listed below. All new hires must complete the training within their first three months and will then follow the schedule for continuing employees. Offices and departments may require additional relevant training as necessary, such as material handling safety or financial information privacy. Supervisors or faculty division chairs, as the case may be, are responsible for ensuring that employees in their areas complete the necessary training. Issues with non-compliance will be addressed through normal performance management processes.

Where possible and available, training will be provided in various formats, including in-person workshops and online modules. Employees will receive notification and details for each training.

This policy will be reviewed periodically to ensure relevance and effectiveness. Updates will be communicated accordingly.